October 4
Jennifer and I had a great conversation regarding my practicum. I voiced my needs to her: that I want to build stronger relationships with families. Jennifer has been around so long, and she is the program coordinator which makes most parents look to her for their needs, questions, and concerns. As an educator, I want parents to feel comfortable coming to me for these things. I asked Jennifer for more space in this area, and allowing me to discuss things with parents on my own. She was more than willing & agreed that this is a beneficial area for me to work on as a future educator. Jennifer also told me that something I need to work on is assertiveness within my role. She noticed that if I disagree with something, I don’t speak up because I do not want to cause conflict, however, she highlighted the importance of speaking my truth (in a respectful, assertive manner) as if you let things fester it can be worse than saying what was wrong in the first place. Otherwise, Jennifer enjoys watching me as an educator and the choices I make with the children.
October 31
My mentor let me know that she has noticed that I have been doing well communicating with families and she has noticed I have been working on my assertiveness. I feel better being assertive because I find it sorts issues out immediately rather than letting them build up and cause resentment. She said that she was grateful that I take the initiative to complete daily tasks such as greeting families, laundry, sanitizing, and dishes without being asked.
November 6
We had an open house today, and a month ago I was assigned to create a slideshow for us to play during for families and community members. This slide show entailed describing what Head Start is, what we offer, staff introductions, and our philosophy and goals. I worked really hard on it and my mentor and director told me that I did wonderful work and that they really loved how it turned out.
Final Practicum Feedback
